Self-service type containers for food or candy can be found for example in supermarkets. The containers normally are molded of transparent plastic that displays the contents and are made with flat walls so that they can be readily stacked or mounted on shelves. The access opening is provided in the front wall of the container, which can be inclined to permit more convenient access to the goods inside, and is normally closed for sanitary reasons by a hinged cover. The contents of the container are intended to be removed from the container by the customer and put into a separate package that is closed, weighed and priced. For removing the contents from the container, there is usually provided--also for sanitary reasons as well as for convenience--a scoop that may be tethered to the container for example or seated in a pocket formed integrally with or attached to the container.
The covers of containers of this kind have been hinged to the container for example by short pivot pins or trunnions molded integrally with the cover and extending laterally from opposite sides of the cover or from lugs depending from the cover. The pins are adapted to be seated in recesses or depressions formed in the side walls of the container which, for assembly, require that the side walls of the container be sprung apart to permit the lugs to be moved into alignment with the recesses. When the side walls are released and recover the pins enter and are seated in the recesses.
Other arrangements for pivoting the cover to the container may include for example a boss or offset at the top of the cover that is disposed between a pair of lugs upstanding from the wall of the container, and a pivot pin inserted through the lugs and the boss.
Containers of this nature are designed as single-use throw-away units and are therefore made relatively light and inexpensively. At the same time, being exposed to customers in a self-service environment, they are subject to harsh and demanding use. Covers that are hinged to the containers by trunnions seated in recesses in the side walls can be popped loose and can be improperly replaced or not replaced at all, which means that the contents of the container are not properly covered,, or the covers can be knocked onto the floor for example and are no longer suitable for use with a food container. A cover that is hinged to the container by a pivot pin extending through lugs upstanding from the container can become loose when the pivot pin is removed or falls out or when a lug is broken.
The objects of this invention are to provide a food container in which the cover is more securely fastened to the container and which at the same time is relatively inexpensive and easy to assemble.